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A plan to give developers access across council owned land to a housing scheme has been halted. Bolton Council intended to grant permanent easement and access rights to a parcel of land at Dentdale Close, Lostock so that developers can get to a site where three new houses are planned. But at a recent meeting of council deputy leaders heard that people in the area had maintained the land themselves for years.
Cllr Adele Warren, of Breightmet, said: “This piece of land has been maintained by the residents for seven years, they cut it to perfection, absolutely maintain it to perfection. “They do the trees on there, they cut the hedges, they cut the grass. “They maintain it better than any other piece of land in Bolton.
” Three new houses been planned (Image: Bolton Council) She said: “The road surface is abysmal, you’re going to have a lot of heavy traffic on that road.” The meeting heard that the council had planned to grant permanent easement and access to allow three six-bedroom houses, which had already been granted planning permission, to be built. Cllr Warren told the meeting that she understood that as part of a previous agreement with developers on the Ladybridge Estate, they had agreed that the land be a public space.
She said: “This should have gone to a public consultation for the open space requirement before it was ever at this meeting and I think its quite shocking that that was only opened on April 4 until April 18. “But the paperwork really should have been sent out before this.” Earlier in the meeting deputy director of corporate resources Andrew Williamson said that the only access possible to the development site was the land to the south of Dentdale Close.
ALSO READ: Land that was 'always used for anti-social behaviour' to be sold at £450K below value ALSO READ: Decision on £100K land sale to kickstart house building and rebuild of bowling club ALSO READ: Council website wrongly lists land it owns He said that back in 2022 the land had been valued at around £56,000 but that this had since soared to just under £165,000. Mr Williamson said that instead of selling the land, the council proposed keeping ownership but allowing access to the developers. In response to Cllr Warren’s points, Mr Williamson said that “if feedback is significant” about the proposal, the council would be able to bring it to a future meeting.
Cllr Warren “called in” the decision for further debate and scrutiny before it was approved..
